The latest installment of ESPN’s 30 for 30 Podcasts series has dropped with a four-part series called The Bag Game.
The four episodes tell the story of Billy Preston and how a car accident he was involved in launched a massive NCAA investigation.
Here’s more from ESPN’s release.
30 for 30 Podcasts debuts all four episodes of its captivating next installment “The Bag Game” today, April 18. The audio documentary, hosted by ESPN investigative reporter Paula Lavigne, goes in-depth on the sprawling criminal case that rocked college basketball through the story of Billy Preston, a 5-star recruit to Kansas who was poised for the NBA. Before he ever played a regular season game for the Jayhawks, a minor car accident in 2017 set Billy on a different course. He got benched due to NCAA eligibility questions, tying into a years-long undercover federal investigation.
In 2018, prosecutors brought fraud and other criminal charges against assistant coaches, apparel executives, an aspiring sports business manager and more. Three defendants were convicted at trial of scheming to pay young players like Billy Preston or their families, ruining their NCAA eligibility. But no college head coaches were charged. What did it reveal about the system? And what did it change? Lavigne has been on the reporting team covering this story for more than five years, and tells the tale with exclusive interviews, wiretap recordings, firsthand accounts and court testimony. As today’s college athletes navigate a new world that allows them to earn money from their talents, “The Bag Game” sheds new light on the reality for previous generations. For decades, under-the-table pay-to-play in youth and college basketball was an open secret that defined many lives on and off the court.
The four parts, called The Making of Billy Preston, Nichole and the Bag Man, The Sting, and Plausible Deniability, range between 36 and 51 minutes in length. All four dropped at the same time this week.
Prior to the release of The Bag Game, the most recent edition of the 30 for 30 Podcasts series was December’s Pink Card, hosted by Shima Oliaee and produced by A Touch More, Sue Bird and Megan Rapinoe’s production company.
The 30 for 30 Podcasts series launched in 2017 with weekly podcasts each focusing on different topics. The five-part third season Bikram was the first focusing on a single topic.
[ESPN]
